Fuselage barrel assemblies for aircraft are large, complex structures that may be assembled from a plurality of fuselage barrel sections. Each of the fuselage barrel sections may have a characteristic cross-sectional dimension of several meters and an even larger length. For example, the characteristic cross-sectional dimension of fuselage barrel sections of certain larger aircraft may be nearly six meters and the length may be nearly 10 meters, or more.
In addition, current state-of-the-art aircraft generally are composite structures that may be formed from a plurality of different components, including fiber-reinforced composite materials and metals. In one specific example, a composite skin of the fuselage barrel section may be formed from a fiber-reinforced composite material. The fiber-reinforced composite material may be laid up on an inner mold line layup tool and cured to form the composite skin. Subsequently, the layup tool may be separated from the composite skin and a frame assembly may be located within an inner volume that is defined by the composite skin and attached to the composite skin to form a fuselage barrel section.
A plurality of fuselage barrel sections may be attached to one another to form the fuselage barrel assembly. This assembly process may include locating a splice ring between adjacent fuselage barrel sections and attaching the adjacent fuselage barrel sections to the splice ring. The frame assemblies of the adjacent fuselage barrel sections also may be attached to one another. Often, it may be difficult to accurately align the frame assemblies of the adjacent fuselage barrel sections, and portions of the fuselage barrel sections often must be reworked to permit a required degree of alignment between the frame assemblies. In addition, it also may be difficult to accurately match a circumferential length of the adjacent fuselage barrel sections, and shims often may be located between one, or both, of the composite skins and the splice ring. The rework and the shimming both may decrease a production rate of the fuselage barrel assembly and/or increase a cost of the fuselage barrel assembly. Thus, there exists a need for improved composite layup tools for aircraft fuselage barrels and for improved methods of assembling the layup tools.